The common thread is that all programs endeavor to understand biological function in health and disease. Nearly all faculty members have served on national advisory committees to major funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and as reviewers and editors to major scientific publications. The department offers the Ph.D. degree, and the combined M.D./Ph.D. degrees in conjunction with the School of Medicine.

The faculty and graduate students participate in a variety of graduate level teaching programs in the Schools of Medicine and Allied Health. Extramural research support for fiscal year 2005 was over five million dollars from the NIH. The Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology ranks in the upper third of all physiology departments in the U.S. with respect to NIH funding.